*Leave a comment below any post from October 1-13*Change your avatar or profile picture to the TRANCE cover,or a photo of you making "TRANCE eyes" for the duration of the party*Invite a friend (and have them tell me who sent them)*Sign up to be a part of the Bookmark Brigade

Please send your mailing instructions to gerb(@) lindagerber (.) com and we'll get those sent out to you!

Everyone else, join us these next two weeks for our Final Countdown TRANCE celebration and more chances to win!

Special thanks to our friends at CSN for pitching in once again so we can bring you a digital camera grand prize. Check out the CSN online stores for everything from nightstands to pots and pans, and of course, this cool digital camera. Thank you, CSN!

Countdown prizes, participants and rules in the next post. Watch for it!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Please send your mailing instructions to gerb (@) lindagerber (.) com and we'll get that sent out to you.

Everyone else, remember, any comment left this month earns you an entry for the September countdown drawings, which include a custom engraved keychain and one of two Amazon gift cards. The winners of those drawings and the lowdown on the Final Countdown Trance Launch Party can be found right here on the blog tomorrow.Meanwhile, what's up?

Bone Marrow Crusade (Email Oprah) Please take a moment right now to join the campaign. Send an email to Oprah TODAY to help ''Ceci'' Christenson get on the show to promote the National Marrow Donor Registry. Go on. I'll wait. (You can read more about Ceci's campaign here and here.)

The Smart Chicks tour report: Their stop in Cincinnati on Friday was awesome. I got to meet up with some book bloggers and friends before the event - Bri from Bri Meets Books, Susan from Wastepaper Prose, Chelsea from The Page Flipper, Lauren Shooting Star Mag, fellow Ohio authors Mara Purnhagen, Carey Corp, and more. At the event, I got to finally meet fellow TFC sister, Alyson Noel, and met/got books signed by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jeri Smith-ready, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Melissa Marr, and Kelley Armstrong. Saturday I was able to have a lovely lunch with Kay Cassidy, Kristina McBride, Rae Carson, Sara Wealer and Susan Robertson. Perfect!

Friday, September 24, 2010

I'll tell you right up front that I'm a relatively moderate, Christian mom. I will admit that there are some books I've steered my kids away from when they were younger, because, in my judgment as a parent, I either felt they didn't uphold our family's values or I decided my children weren't ready for the subject matter yet. There are books that I myself prefer not to read because I am uncomfortable with the language or the subject matter. All this may make me an unlikely advocate for freedom in reading.

But here's the thing. I choose for me. I choose for my children (until they are old enough to choose for themselves.) But I don't believe I have the right to choose for anyone else.

Do I understand the zeal behind some of the book challenges, especially in schools? Absolutely. We are taught in many a church to stand up for what is right. Some people misguidedly believe this means imposing their interpretation of "right" on others. While I'm sure these people have the best of intentions, that view is, at best, shortsighted. I value the freedom to choose for myself, thank you.

So here I am, a protective mom, speaking up against censorship. We've seen a lot of high-profile banning going on in the past few weeks. But there are quieter bans happening all over. Challenges by some people who haven't even read the books they are questioning. The only way we're going to stop this kind of dictatorship from happening is to speak loudly against it.

For this week's freebie - and a longer-standing commitment - leave a comment below, telling me your views on book banning and censorship. (The winner, as always, will be selected via random name draw, not on the content of the comment, so feel free to be completely honest. But be respectful. I reserve the right to remove argumentative, troll-like comments.) Up for grabs is the last remaining ARC of TRANCE, a signed flat, and a handful of bookmarks. This drawing will remain open until Wednesday, September 29.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Everyone, remember that all comments to any posts this month earn you an entry for the Trance Countdown monthly drawing to be held next week. Be sure to come on back for another freebie and more chances to enter.

What's up this week?

I'm back! My family and I just returned from Japan. It was so absolutely fantastic and heartbreaking to be there again, seeing old friends - and meeting new ones. I miss Tokyo already. But it's good to be home.Castle and Glee are back! Love. : )We're talkingGlee and bullying over at Teen Fiction Cafe. (TFC) Come join the discussion!

Banned Book Week is coming! (ALA) Exercise your freedom to read and to decide for yourself. This is insane: (KSPR) (Examiner) (NewsOK)

Online YA Writing Workshop! (CRW) Writers, there is still time to register for this workshop (deadline is September 25.) Scroll down on the page for the October workshops to find "Get Real - or, How to Make Your YA Rock". I'd love for you to join us!Happy Release Week to: Elizabeth Scott (GRACE), Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz (CRAVE), Yvonne Woon (DEAD BEAUTIFUL), Brenna Yovanoff (THE REPLACEMENT), Heather Brewer (TWELFTH GRADE KILLS), Emily Whitman (WILDWING), and to all the contributors to the ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNSanthology.

For an additional entry toward this month's TRANCE Countdown giveaway, leave a comment below about anything in this post.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Apologies for the late announcement. They did have Internet available in the lobby at the hotel at Fuji yesterday, but there were a lot of hikers waiting in line to use it (it rained all day and all night, making hiking impossible), so I didn't get a chance to get on the computer. We're at the posh Yokohama Grand hotel today, but we'll be heading to Baba and Jiji's tomorrow (our adopted Japanese Grandma and Grandpa) and I doubt I'm going to be able to get online again. So... this post will have to serve as both the winner post and this week's Freebie Friday, okay? Okay. Here we go...

The winner of this week's TRANCE ARC, bookmarks and signed flat is:

Deniz Bevan

Congrats, Deniz! Please send your mailing instructions to gerb (@) lindagerber (.) com and we'll get those sent out to you.

Everyone else, leave a comment below for this week's chance to win - and to be entered in the drawing for this month's Trance countdown grand prizes - a custom engraved digital keychain and one of two $50 Amazon gift certificates.

This week's comment subject... This visit to Japan for my family and I has been like coming home again. A lot has changed, but it many ways, it feels like we never left. Have you ever experienced that kind of feeling?ORIs there anyplace in your past that you would love to visit again?

Friday, September 10, 2010

I'm sitting in the Columbus airport, hoping to get this post up before we board because I didn't get it done last night as I had hoped, and 4:30 came earlier than I wanted this morning.

Today I'm pleased to bring you a GCC interview with Lucienne Diver.

The Author:

Lucienne is a writer by night and a literary agent by day. I got to meet her at RWA Nationals and she's as cool in person as she looks online. Lucienne started writing in her teens because talking back to the voices in her head wasn't socially acceptable. She has never stopped.

In Vamped, Gina and her minions defeated a vampire vixen, a psycho-psychic and the vampire council of Mozulla, Ohio. Gina was all ready to expose vampires to the world in all their fanged fabulosity…until theFeds arrived to sweep everything under the rug and make them an offer they couldn’t refuse. In ReVamped, Gina and her boyfriend Bobby are sent undercover to infiltrate a New York high schoolwhere some seriously weird stuff is going down. Worse than that, Gina’s new super-secret identity is as goth-girl Geneva Belfry. No color palette to speak of. More chains than a bike rack. And don't even get her started on the shoes. At least she won’t be too worried about blood spatter when kicking the butt of her newest nemesis, who’s decided that the high school makes a perfect playground.

Rave Reviews:

“This is a witty vampire romance/adventure with plenty of heart and action. Diver has written a supernatural sequel to Vamped (Flux, 2009/VOYA August 2009) that will attract even reluctant readers. It is filled with wry twists, such as the difficulties of trying to apply mascara when, as vampire, you don’t have any reflection in the mirror, as well as the typical agonies of being young and trying to fit in.” —VOYA

“Gina, the 17-year-old fashionista of the undead, is back and as sassy as ever (Vamped, 2009). Thoroughlyenjoyable, this sequel is a light, fizzy read… listening in on Gina’s thoughts and quick-witted dialogue is whatmakes this such a treat.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Interview:

What inspired you to write ReVamped?My character, Gina, is very…um…insistent.She wasn’t satisfied with one book, two or even four.In fact, she’s insisted on her own blog: http://ginasgems.livejournal.com.So, ReVamped was her idea.The concept of tormenting her with the undercover assignment of going goth…that was all me.

Have you ever gone goth? I’m a closet goth.Or maybe a perky goth.I hear there’s a comics series called DorkTower with a character by that designation, which I’ve really got to check out.Anyway, the long and short of it is that I tend to wear my darkness on the inside.Darkness in, light out…sort of the opposite of a black hole.

Have you ever had a premonition? What happened? I knew without a doubt that every night when I stood on the subway platform to get home the first three trains to arrive in the station wouldn’t be for me…and I was right.I think my area of Queens was on the wrong side of the tracks and all the popular politicians lived on the R line.Conspiracy theorist…moi?

If you could hang out with any literary character, who would you choose and why? Sherlock Holmes.He’d find me insufferable and (gasp) female, but still, I could learn so much.Bonus if he actually looked like Robert Downey Jr.

Are you superstitious in any way?I’m not superstitious except that I do kind of believe in karma…that what goes around comes around.In some ways I have to in order to stay sane.Luckily, I’ve seen enough evidence to keep me convinced.

What's one thing most people don't know about you? I have three actual skulls in my office…muskrat, bobcat and raccoon.(Okay, so maybe my goth side is peeking out of that closet just a wee bit.)

What's your favorite quote? From the film Charade, something Audrey Hepburn manages to say to Cary Grant with a straight face: “I’m sorry, I already know an awful lot of people, and until one of them dies, I couldn’t possibly meet anyone else.”

What kind of chocolate best describes you? Hershey bar with almonds…very commercial and kind of nutty.

The Freebie: Up for grabs this week is a signed ARC of TRANCE (one of only three remaining), a signed flat of the book cover, a handful of bookmarks . To be entered to win, tell me about the last close call you had (they just called our flight for boarding, but I'm racing to finish this first. Close call!) All comments qualify you for an entry in the month's countdown prize drawing.

This contest will remain open until Wednesday - or until I get back online again. And now I need to get onboard! Mata ne!

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Everyone, thanks for playing. Your entries are tallying up for the month's prizes. (If you're new to the blog, or want a reminder of how to enter, September's Countdown rules are here.)

What else is up this week?

Two more days until I leave for Japan! (Who knows, something fun and Japanese may just find itself in next month's countdown prize basket...) Where's your favorite faraway destination?

Apple does music social networking. What do you think of Ping? (YPulse)

Did you grab a copy of Mockingjay on release day like I did? You aren't alone. 450,000 copies were sold in the first week. (PW)

Do you have an e-reader? Lots of action going on with them this week! Borders jumps into the action with the Kobo and Libre. (GalleyCat), while Sony is upgrading their screens and bodies (crunchgear) and Staples is getting in on the action by selling Kindles (mediabistro). And speaking of e-books, Diesel e-books has reached a deal with Hachette to once again offer their e-book titles. (Diesel Blog)

This month's grand prize is a $50 Amazon gift certificate and a custom-engraved digital photo keychain.

A second winner will also receive a $50 Amazon gift certificate.

Each Friday, a signed TRANCE ARC, along with TRANCE bookmarks and a signed TRANCE cover flat is up for grabs.

How to enter:

1. Comment on any post on this blog this month. Each comment = 1 entry2. Send your friends to the blog. Each mention from a visitor that you sent them = 1 entry3. Tweet about the TRANCE countdown. Each tweet = 1 entry.4. Post on myspace or facebook about the TRANCE countdown. Each post = 1 entry5. Blog about the TRANCE countdown. Each blog post = 1 entry6. Tweet about TRANCE. Each tweet = 1 entry7. Post on myspace or facebook about TRANCE. Each post = 1 entry8. Blog about TRANCE. Each blog post = 1 entry9. Find the TRANCE reviews online (links in the sidebar) and leave a comment. Each review visited = 1 entry. (If you have reviewed TRANCE, thank you! You may count that as your entry.)10. Change your profile picture on your blog, twitter, myspace or facebook account to the TRANCE cover. Each week this month that TRANCE is your profile picture = 2 entries.

Today's question: What is your favorite song, book, or movie that has a number (or the word "number") in the title? Leave a comment below for your chance to win this week's signed TRANCE ARC and to earn one entry in the month's grand prize drawings. The winner of the ARC will be drawn on Wednesday, September 8.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

As promised, promo week continues with a special GCC tour appearance by Kristina Springer. Kristina is the author of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, the forthcoming PUMPKIN PRINCESS (fall 2011), and of course, her newly-released book, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS. You can find Kristina hanging around the web on facebook, on twitter, on her blog, on Author2Author or on her website.

Here's the official blurb about MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS:

Seventh grade was supposed to be fun, but Tori is having major drama with her BFF, Sienna. Sienna changed a lot over the summer—on the first day of school she’s tan, confident, and full of stories about her new dreamy boyfriend. Toriknows that she’s totally making this guy up. So Tori invents her own fake boyfriend, who is better than Sienna’s in every way. Things are going great—unless you count the whole lying-to-your-best-friend thing—until everyone insists Tori and Sienna bring their boyfriends to the back-to-school dance.

The Center for Children's Books calls MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS "cleverly depicted". Kirkus Reviews agrees, and says the "dialog is realistic" and the personalities "refreshing." And School Library Journal calls it a "fun read" and says, "The themes will resonate with any girl who’s ever gone through the hardships of middle school: friendship, boys, popularity, and, most importantly, choosing to do the right, but often more difficult, thing.”

Please join me in a huge congrats for Kristina's release week, and go grab a copy of MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And now, also as promised, the details of September's TRANCE Countdown Contest.

This contest will kick off in a special Freebie Friday edition right here on the blog.

Four signed TRANCE ARCs, with accompanying bookmarks and signed cover flat.

Want to get a jump on the competition? Leave a comment below that has something to do with numbers. Use your imagination, but keep it clean. Your comment will earn you an extra entry in this month's contest.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

As I promised, this week is full of promotions. Today, I'm part of the Hunt for UNRAVELED, the latest in Gena Showalter's YA series, INTERTWINED. To celebrate this new release, Gena and her author BFFs are hosting a 4-day scavenger hunt on their blogs... including this one!

Threegrand prize winners will each win a $100 Visa gift card, plus Gena’s giving away signed copies of UNRAVELED to five lucky runner-ups! All you have to do is find all eight letters, unscramble them and email the word to Contests(AT)KnightAgency.net. What could be easier than that? Today, Marley Gibson and I have our letters up front and center. To get the skinny on where the other letters are hiding in the great internet universe, click here for a contest road map and rules.

Participating UNRAVELED hunt blogs include superstar authors Rachel Caine, PC Cast, Marley Gibson, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Tina Ferraro... and moi. This contest runs from Monday, August 30th to Thursday, September 2nd. All entries must be received by Monday, September 6th at midnight ET. Happy Hunting!

In case you're wondering what UNRAVELED is all about, read on to learn more about Aden:

Too bad he’s going to die... Since coming to Crossroads, Oklahoma, former outcast Aden Stone has been living the good life. Never mind that one of his best friends is a werewolf, his girlfriend is a vampire princess who hungers for his blood, and he’s supposed to be crowned Vampire King – while still a human! Well, kind of.

With four – oops, three now — human souls living inside his head, Aden has always been “different” himself. These souls can time travel, raise the dead, possess another’s mind, and, his least favorite these days, tell the future.

The forecast for Aden? A knife through the heart.

Because a war is brewing between the creatures of the dark, and Aden is somehow at the center of it all. But he isn’t about to lie down and accept his destiny without a fight. Not when his new friends have his back, not when Victoria has risked her own future to be with him, and not when he has a reason to live for the first time in his life.

And now... here is your super secret letter for unraveling the word:

Meanwhile... are you ready for some winner announcements?

Here we go... the winner of the signed copy of SABOTAGED by Margaret Peterson Haddix is:

AquarianDancer

Congratulations! Please send your mailing instructions to gerb at lindagerber dot com and we'll get that off to you!

And finally... huge thanks to everyone who blogged, tweeted, blurbed, facebooked, posted the countdown widget and spread the TRANCE Countdown Kickoff news with their friends. You are all winners as far as I'm concerned!

But since I can only choose one official winner of the $160 in CSN money...

I'm drawing the name right now...

*Drum roll, please....*

Wow, there are a lot of little slips of paper here. Nearly 500 entries!! Thanks so much. You guys clearly rock.

And the winner is...

Melanie Bleile

Congratulations!!! Please drop me a note at gerb (@) lindagerber (.) com and we'll make the arrangements to get that out to you.

Everyone, thank you so much for participating and spreading the word. Just for you, I've got more chances to win in September as the TRANCE Countdown continues...

Come on back tomorrow for a special GCC interview with Kristina Springer for her new book, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS